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Text Box: On April 21, high schools from Fremont County were invited to celebrate Earth Day at Waubonsie State Park’s camp Wa Shaw Tee. The event was hosted by Fremont Soil and Water Conservation District. The students began their day (after the doughnuts and juice) by learning a little history of the Loess Hills. They also were informed of the Hills’ current situation, including economics, development, and restoration activities. The students were then able to learn some botany lessons from Abbie Meyer (Mills SWCD) and Jeremy Cochran (Iowa DNR). Abbie’s discussion focused on Prairie, while Jeremy’s

Text Box: topic was forests and trees. The final discussion of the morning was Jim Beebe’s (Fremont SWCD) talk on prescribed fire. The students learned all of the components in setting up a proper burn plan. The main event was held right after lunch. The students were given the task of planting 300 seedlings (red oak and black walnut) in a valley that recently had its trees harvested. They were first shown the proper tree planting technique, and then turned loose with a shovel and bucket of seedlings. The students were very hard workers, and diligently worked until every last tree was planted.

Text Box: of soil particles. Brad Cutler from the Golden Hills RC&D taught the students the history of GPS and how to use it. The day went well and we finally got to have a field day out in the field. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their day, and have expressed interest in returning next year. Students learn stream dynamics through this stream table.

Text Box: On May 3rd the Fremont County Soil and Water Conservation District held its third annual educational field day for fifth graders from schools in Fremont County. They were invited to come to Waubonsie State Park and learn about different types of conservation. Throughout the day, students participated in eight different sessions, three of which were taught by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Another three sessions were taught by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Fremont Soil and Water Conservation District. The other two sessions were instructed by the Fremont County Iowa State University Extension and the Golden Hills Resource Conservation and Development. The Iowa DNR took on the part of teaching Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries. Forestry was taught by the

Text Box: district forester, Jeremy Cochran. The wildlife session was taught by Wildlife Biologist Carl Preibe, and Fisheries was taught by Biologist Mark Boucher. The NRCS and the Fremont SWCD educated the students on the importance of wetlands, streams, and aquifers. The wetland session was directed by Fremont SWCD Wetland Specialist Lucas Forney and NRCS District Conservationist Brian Gross. The edible aquifer was taught by Tammy Grebert and Kevin Brannen both from the Fremont SWCD and Fred Bolton from the NRCS. Jim Beebe (Fremont SWCD) and Shane McNaughton (NRCS) taught the students stream dynamics and habitat by using a stream table. Doug Doty, from the ISU Extension, educated the students on the soils of the Loess Hills and showed them the difference in sizes

A group of Sidney high school students works hard to get their seedlings planted.

Text Box: Please join Fremont SWCD for their annual wetland tour. See reverse for details.